Transgender Conformity In The Song 'Little Game'

Transgender Conformity

“Hush boy, oh hush boy, don’t say a word. Throw on a jersey and no one gets hurt.” The song “Little Game” was a hauntingly true song composed and sung by a 15-year old boy to highlight society’s gender roles and how people are pressured to fit into their born biological sex. “Little Game” offers a stunning commentary on how harmful enforcing such strict gender roles can be. Society puts such strict borders on what girls and boys should do (Little Game Illustrates Gender Games). An analysis of the view on gender identity rights (which can also be categorized into “transgender rights”) reveals two sides to the story: the right to express individual gender identity and the argument against it, that there are only two biological

genders.
The Metamorphoses (“Transformations”) Greek myth is a narrative poem by the Roman poet, Ovid which was completed in 8 C.E. and is split up into fifteen books (Metamorphoses). The poem describes the creation of the world and in it features the best known Greek love stories, but it centers more on morale characters than the Greek Gods and heroes. The one story that sticks out in the books is a story about Caeneus, the Lapith hero of Thessaly.

Originally, he was named Caenis and born a woman, there are many variations to his story. Some say he changed into a man before marrying a woman, he changed into a man to become a great hunter and the hero of Thessaly, and other variations include him being raped by Poseidon and then granted impenetrable skin and changed into a man so that he may never be raped again (Caeneus). Whatever the story or belief, the authors and storytellers that told of Caeneus in 8 C.E. supported the fact that gender identity existed and was never minded in the Greek society.

Gender identity is even known in Rome with famous artists like Michelangelo, statues have been unearthed in Rome depicting intersex people inspired by a number of Renaissance artists that date back to the 15th century. The Native Americans accepted and viewed gender on a spectrum from male to female, including transgender and intersex peoples who were thought to have special spiritual significance. During the rise of the Middle Ages, “while patriarchal societies were gradually able to synthesize and later entrench the notion that females should be subservient, gender-variant persons posed a more puzzling quandary, because

of their uniqueness. It was for this reason that patriarchal religions, which reached their epitome with the Roman Catholic Church, felt that they had to stamp out transgender people (and also gay / lesbian people, who were often thought of as mixed-gender of a sort in early societies) and demonize their legacy.” (Allen) The status of women was degraded and anyone with a gender variance was viewed as “less than male”, this period became known as The Rise of Hatred. As society moved towards the future, gender identity did not disappear, but did become more ‘renegade’. Proceeding the Middle Ages (or the Rise of Hatred), transgender and intersex people are sometimes viewed the wrong way. In 1860, Herculine Barbin is discovered to be intersexed with male parts inside of her body, she is announced legally male against her wishes and becomes the centerpiece of scandal for having previously taught in an all girl’s school, where she therein moves to Paris and later commits suicide in 1868. In a dictionary of criminal slang published in Portland, Oregon, the word "faggot" is first seen as applied to the GLBT community, with the usage example, "All the fagots (sissies) will be dressed in drag at the ball tonight." The word originally appeared in Modern English in the 13th Century, meaning a bundle of sticks (derived from the French). By 16th Century, it meant bundles used for firewood, for the purpose of burning at the stake. A shortened version "fag" is adopted as a British colloquialism for cigarette, and is later (1923) also adopted in print as an epithet for gay and transgender practices, which at that time are all thought to be interlinked -- the obvious implication reflecting what society at that time should largely do about gay and transgender persons. (Allen) Although a few surgeons had already carried out some incomplete sex reassignment surgeries previously (primarily removing the existing sex organs, not creating new ones), 1920 also saw the first complete surgeries for MTF transsexuals. These took place at Magnus Hirschfeld's Institute for Sexology by Drs. Ludwig Levy-Lenz and Felix Abraham.
Today, as transgender culture and variety has grown, it's become incredibly diverse.

Drag balls have evolved from a primarily ‘gay white man’ activity to a multiracial group that went to intentionally break taboos. Some transgender people identify as male or female, and some identify as genderqueer, non binary, agender, or somewhere else on or outside of the spectrum. In the HRC Foundations 2012 survey of LGBTQ youth, “about 10 percent of respondents identified themselves either as transgender or as other gender and wrote in identities like genderqueer, gender fluid, or androgynous.” (Human Rights) This suggests that a larger portion of this generations youth are identifying somewhere on the broad transgender spectrum. However, many people are opposing and denouncing the term “transgender”, the archbishop of San Francisco, Salvatore Cordileone, was especially blunt about this subject. “The clear biological fact is that a human being is born either male or female.” (Emma Green) Medical care of transgender patients, including surgical and hormonal treatment, has largely been met with resistance by physicians in favor of psychiatric treatment. “Former Chief of Psychiatry at John Hopkins Hospital and Distinguished Service Professor of Psychiatry at John Hopkins University Dr. Paul R. McHugh and Arizona State University professor of statistics and biostatistics Lawrence S. Mayer co-authored the report, which found that “gender identity” is not removed from biological sex.” (Amanda Prestigiacomo) In other words, a man cannot be born in a woman's body, or vice-versa. As the report made by the researchers goes, many children are victimized by the transgender movement, often regretting their advised decision to become transgender and are left with “irreversible damage and lifelong physical and emotional scars” (Amanda Prestigiacomo). McHugh made headlines in June of 2016 when he declared that those who enable the mental illness of transgenderism are “collaborating with madness”. He also vehemently warned against sex-reassignment surgery in particular. Mayer dedicated his work on the report to the LGBTQ community, which tears a disproportionate rate of mental health problems compared the population as a whole. He claimed to have to find ways to relieve their suffering.
Most will argue that equality is for all, that society needs to move forward and embrace the individuality. However, the negative side will refute it with biological facts. They say that gender is a term that was created within the last 50 years. Biologically, there are only two genders - male and female. The negative side will also argue that “children as young as three are being told by their parents they can choose to be male or female, which could spell the end for civilization” (). OF course, forcing gender equality laws into the spotlight goes to show that there are more equality issues than just gay rights.
“While the ACLU and other supporters maintain that the law will decrease bullying against transgendered students, there is a distinct possibility that the opposite could be true.

Students who are opposed to or do not understand trans-sexuality may feel threatened by a female-to-male or male-to-female student suddenly in their locker room or bathroom, which could cause an uprise of hate crimes across the country where these laws are implemented” (). However, both sides may be able to meet on middle ground with solutions. Equality is a constitutional right, but discrimination based on gender identity is not specifically prohibited under federal law at this time, but there are legislative efforts to pass federal laws to make it explicitly illegal. Of course there's the simple and obvious fix, passing federal laws to help protect and promote gender identity equality but that requires years of hassling and legal fighting (which doesn't put into account the protests that could rise out of it). Or of course, allow there to be transgender bathrooms (or bathrooms for any and all genders), creating fair workplaces and supporting improving schools.

A deeper look into this specific social issue shows the two sides of the story: those who want and those who oppose gender identity equality. Ultimately, it cannot be denied that laws towards transgender equality is a step forward for the LGBT community. However, lack of structure could raise serious questions with all the different solutions

and arguments out there, and it is safe to say that there is still a long road ahead of this issue.